Dead screen
Nothing comes on
1. Is the power bar switched on? Try a lamp in the same bar.
2. Push the cord firmly into the wall and into the back of the computer or the brick on a laptop.
3. If it is a laptop, leave it on the charger for 20 minutes. A dead battery looks like a dead machine.
4. Try a different wall outlet.
5. On a desktop, look for a tiny 1 / 0 switch on the power supply at the back.
6. Still dark? The machine or the screen may be finished. See what to buy rather than guessing at parts.
It turns on
But the screen stays black
1. Check the monitor power light. No light → treat it like the dead-screen list above.
2. Wiggle the video cable at both ends (the one from computer to screen).
3. If you have a TV with an HDMI hole, try that instead of the monitor.
4. On a laptop, hold the brightness keys (often a sun icon) in case brightness is at zero.
Slow or odd
I think I have a virus
Looks like trouble: pop-ups you cannot close, a “your PC is locked / call this number” screen, new toolbars, the homepage changed by itself, the fan screams while you are doing nothing, or a stranger is talking through your speakers.
Often not a virus: the disk is full, Windows wants 40 updates, or the machine is ten years old.
Do this today:
1. Do not call any number on the screen. Do not pay with gift cards.
2. If you can still use the computer, change the passwords that matter — email first, then banking, then shopping. Use a new password from the box below. Do it from a phone or another computer if this one feels hijacked.
3. Turn on the check at your email provider that sends a code to your phone (two-step).
4. See if that email has been in a known leak: Have I Been Pwned. If it has, treat that password as public.
5. On Windows, open Windows Security and run a full scan. Leave it overnight if you need to.
6. Uninstall programs you do not remember installing.
The phone rang
“This is Microsoft / your internet company”
Hang up. Real companies do not cold-call to take over your screen. Do not install AnyDesk, TeamViewer, or “support software” because a stranger asked. If you already did, unplug the internet (or flip the Wi-Fi off) and change the email password from a phone.
It crawls
Everything takes forever
1. Restart once and wait five minutes.
2. Delete big downloads and empty the Recycle Bin. If the drive is nearly full, Windows will limp.
3. Restart the Wi-Fi box: unplug it, count to 30, plug it back in.
4. A machine older than about six years often needs a new disk, not a new computer. That list is on what to buy.
Wi-Fi
The internet is gone
1. Do other phones on the same Wi-Fi work? If they are dead too, it is the box in the closet, not the computer.
2. Unplug the internet box for 30 seconds.
3. Check the cables at the wall and at the box.
4. If only one computer fails, forget the Wi-Fi network on that computer and join it again with the password off the sticker on the box.
Pictures
I am scared to lose photos
Copy the Pictures folder to a USB drive you can hold in your hand. Open one photo from the stick before you feel safe. A second stick at a relative’s house beats a clever plan you never finish.
Printer
It will not print
Paper, ink, and the lid all the way closed solve most of it. Restart the printer, then the computer. If it is older than the kids, a cheap new inkjet from a real store is kinder than another driver hunt.
